Alibis & Angels Page 3

  “Is something wrong?” Opal’s dark eyebrows knitted with concern.

  “No, I just . . .” Heather shook her head. “I want to do what’s best for Briar Coast and our community.”

  “You are. Believe me. And on the few occasions when you’ve needed to make a different decision, you’ve had five very confident women on your executive team who’ve been happy to let you know.” Opal’s smile softened the pronouncement.

  Heather had already determined that the person behind the gutless threats was a coward, too afraid to confront her, even in writing. That description didn’t fit anyone on her staff.

  Her gaze was drawn to the walnut wood conference table in the corner of her office beside her desk. That’s where they held their executive meetings, with everyone freely expressing their policy opinions. Well, everyone except Kerry. Heather had to prompt her assistant to share her thoughts. The young woman didn’t seem interested in politics, which made Heather curious about why Kerry had applied for the job—and what Kerry and her politically ambitious new boyfriend talked about.

  “You’re right.” Heather returned Opal’s smile. “The fact that you’re all outspoken is one of the many reasons I hired all of you. Thanks, Opal.”

  “Of course. And thanks for the loan of your coat and car. I’ll bring them both back safely.” Opal turned toward the doorway. “In the meantime, there are some tasks that I want to complete before the meeting.”

  Heather frowned as she watched Opal disappear through her doorway. If the threats weren’t coming from someone on her staff, how were the unmarked, unstamped letters getting into her mail?

  * * *

  Hours later, a movement in Heather’s doorway claimed her attention. She paused in the middle of a tense telephone conversation with the Briar Coast Town Council president.

  Kerry stood just inside her office. She was in the company of two Briar Coast County sheriff’s deputies, one male and one female. The deputies gripped their brown felt campaign hats in their fists. They wore matching heavy brown faux leather jackets over their identical uniforms of tan shirts, black ties, and spruce green gabardine pants.

  Her administrative assistant looked puzzled, but the deputies’ somber expressions sent chills up Heather’s spine.

  “Ian, I’ll have to call you back.” Heather cradled her beige telephone receiver without waiting for the council president’s response. She rose to her feet, giving Kerry a reassuring look before turning to the deputies. “Good afternoon, deputies. How can I help you?”

  “Madame Mayor, I’m Sheriff’s Deputy Fran Cole.” The female deputy gestured toward herself with the hat she held in her right hand. She then waved the hat to indicate the tall, bald man beside her. “This is my partner, Sheriff’s Deputy Ted Tate.”

  Sheriff’s deputies didn’t pop into her office on a regular basis. What was going on?

  Heather took a deep breath in an effort to manage her increasing anxiety. The scent of the late winter day seemed to have followed the deputies into her office. “I know who you are, Deputy Cole, Deputy Tate. I congratulated both of you on your investigation into Autumn Tassler’s murder three and a half months ago.” Although everyone in Briar Coast knew the lion’s share of the credit belonged to Sister Lou, a member of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Hermione of Ephesus.

  Deputy Ted Tate beamed as though pleased that the mayor remembered them. “Thanks, Madame Mayor. Could we speak with you in private?” His pale gray gaze settled pointedly on Kerry.

  Ted’s request escalated Heather’s discomfort. What could they need to speak with her about in private? Heather glanced at her wastebasket, which held the letter she’d crumpled and discarded that morning.

  “Of course.” She summoned a smile for her administrative assistant. “Thank you for your help, Kerry. Could you close the door, please?”

  Kerry nodded before leaving, pulling the door closed behind her.

  Heather gestured toward the cushioned chairs in front of her desk. She waited until the deputies were seated before settling on her chair again. “What’s this about, Deputies?”

  “Your finance and management director, Opal Lorrie.” Fran’s bottle green eyes watched her closely. The deputy’s unruly ash blond hair was scrapped back from her thin milky features and gathered into a bun at the nape of her long neck. “Madame Mayor, I’m sorry to inform you that we found Ms. Lorrie’s body in the Board of Ed’s parking lot less than an hour ago.”

  Heather gasped. Her right hand slapped against her open mouth, covering her parted lips. Her ears were buzzing. Her eyes were bulging. Her muscles trembled with shock. “Opal?” She forced her friend’s name out on a pant. “Are you sure it’s Opal? What happened?”

  In the back of her mind, Heather had begun to wonder about Opal’s return. She should have been back by now. Heather thought that perhaps the meeting had run long or her finance director had stopped for lunch. The Briar Coast Café wasn’t far from the Board of Education’s building.

  Ted ran his large right hand over his clean-shaven head. His narrowed eyes set in his wide, craggy face were as watchful as his partner’s. “It looks like she stumbled on her way down the steps leading to the parking lot. She fell and broke her neck.”

  “Stumbled?” Heather frowned at the deputies. “But Opal was wearing flats. How could she have stumbled in them?”

  Fran shrugged her narrow shoulders. “It’s possible. If she was rushing down the steps, she might have missed her footing.”

  “Rushing?” Heather didn’t buy it. But what was the alternative, that Opal had been pushed down the stairs? By whom? Heather’s gaze was again drawn to her wastebasket.

  “Her body was found at the foot of the stairs.” Ted sounded dismissive. “From all indications, it appears that she tripped on her way down. The scene looks like an unfortunate accident.”

  “We’re very sorry for your loss,” Fran added. “We were told by some of the witnesses that Ms. Lorrie was on-site for a meeting you were supposed to attend this morning.”

  “That’s right.” Heather blinked away the sting of tears. She sniffed, catching the scent of the Italian dressing she’d poured on the chicken salad lunch she’d rushed through earlier. “It was a meeting to discuss the Board of Education’s preliminary budget numbers. I was supposed to attend but asked Opal to go instead. She has—had—a much better grasp of the numbers than I do.”

  Fran nodded. “A couple of people at the meeting mentioned that Ms. Lorrie was wearing your coat.”

  Heather felt another chill along her spine. “That’s right. I loaned her my coat and my car to get to the meeting. Her car’s in the shop. Her fiancé drove her to work.”

  Opal’s fiancé. Heather’s heart hurt. This tragedy will destroy him and Opal’s family.

  “We can drive you to the Board of Ed to get your car, if you’d like,” Fran offered. “We recovered Ms. Lorrie’s umbrella and handbag. We’ll need to get those to her next of kin. You can have your coat back.”

  “No, please leave that with Opal.” Heather waved a dismissive hand. “I’ll provide you with the emergency contact information from her employment forms so you can notify her family.”

  Another pain contracted in her chest as Heather thought about Opal’s parents, brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews. They were all so close.

  “We’d appreciate that.” Ted reached forward, offering Heather his plain white business card, which featured the Briar Coast County Sheriff’s Office logo centered at the top.

  Heather took the card from the deputy. “You mentioned that you found Opal’s umbrella and her handbag. Was her briefcase with her?”

  Heather flashed back to the memory of Opal stopping by her office on her way to the budget meeting. The other woman was still beaming at wearing Heather’s coat. Her long dark hair had swung behind her shoulders as she’d circled to model it. It had fit her so well. At the time, the finance director had balanced her bag on her right shoulder. She’d carried her umbrella i
n her right hand and her briefcase in her left.

  “We didn’t find a briefcase with Ms. Lorrie.” Ted exchanged a look with Fran.

  Fran nodded in agreement. “Maybe she left it in the meeting room.”

  “Maybe.” But Heather knew Opal hadn’t forgotten her briefcase. It would have held important notes. Opal wouldn’t have left those behind.

  Could that be what had happened? Her finance director had realized she’d forgotten her briefcase. She’d turned, intending to hurry back up to the conference room, but tripped on a step instead. Heather still didn’t buy it. Her gaze again slid to her wastebasket. Opal’s tragic death couldn’t possibly be connected to the threats Heather had received.

  Could it?

  Chapter 4

  Shari wrapped up her interview with Arneeka Laguda, the mayor’s chief of staff, and stepped into the corridor in time to see the sheriff’s deputies leaving the mayor’s office down the hall. The pair crossed to the double glass doors that led out of the office suite.

  Why had the deputies met with the mayor? Curiosity spurred Shari down the hall, but Fran and Ted were too far for her to catch their attention.

  She quickened her steps and stopped in front of Heather’s administrative assistant. Kerry’s walnut wood desk sat behind a raised white Formica counter on which stood a lined sign-in sheet, a black ceramic pen-and-pencil holder, and a square crystal bowl of mixed candies.

  Shari pocketed a handful of the sweets. “Hi, Kerry. Why were the deputies with the mayor?”

  Kerry shifted her attention from the glass doors through which the deputies had exited to Shari. “I don’t know. They wanted to meet with her privately.” Kerry sounded as curious as Shari felt.

  Shari glanced at the open door to the mayor’s office. “Does she have a few minutes for me?”

  Kerry clicked her computer mouse and her monitor’s image changed to reveal a very colorful electronic calendar. She scanned the screen. “Maybe ten minutes. Her afternoon’s pretty full.”

  “Thanks, Kerry.” On the sign-in sheet, Shari scribbled her name, and the date and time before circling Kerry’s work area. She knocked briefly on the mayor’s open door, but Heather didn’t hear her.

  The mayor’s office was spacious, much bigger than Diego’s office at the Telegraph. The moment Shari crossed into the room, a heavy, solemn silence engulfed her. It hovered over the space like a dark entity and mocked the bright, natural light from the afternoon sun that shone through the open venetian blinds.

  Heather had turned her chair, putting her back to the door. Her thick chestnut hair fell in straight tresses past her shoulders. She appeared to be staring out of the window beside her desk. Shari stepped back. Should she intrude on this moment with the mayor or quietly slip away?

  What would Sister Lou do?

  Shari stepped forward. “Excuse me, Mayor Stanley. May I have a few minutes of your time?”

  Heather jumped at Shari’s first words. With her back still to the door, the mayor lifted her hands to her face. What was that sound? Was the mayor sniffling?

  Finally, Heather spun her chair around. “Sure, I have a couple of minutes. How can I help you?” Her voice was thick with tears.

  Shock struck Shari like an electrical charge. Heather’s violet eyes were red. Her porcelain cheeks and the tip of her elegant nose were pink. The flush was even more vivid against her navy suit jacket.

  Concerned, Shari crossed the room in long, brisk strides. She gripped the back of the middle padded guest chair. “Deputy Cole and Deputy Tate just left your office. I wondered—”

  “Opal is dead.” Heather looked dismayed to have blurted out the news of her finance and management director’s death to a newspaper reporter. Her lips trembled. She pulled a tissue from the box beside her desk and turned away to dry her eyes.

  “Opal?” Shari’s mind went blank.

  Heather nodded her confirmation, apparently too overcome to speak.

  Shari’s eyes stung. She collapsed onto the visitor’s chair. “But . . . I just spoke with her. This morning. She verified numbers for my budget article.”

  The comment was too ridiculous. Shari knew it. She’d tried but she couldn’t stop the words from spilling from her mouth.

  “I know.” Thankfully, Heather didn’t sound put off by Shari’s inane response. She dried her eyes with the tissue in her left hand as she offered Shari the box with her right. “I can’t believe it, either.”

  Shari leaned closer to accept a tissue. If Opal’s death was affecting her so strongly, she couldn’t bear to imagine the pain Heather felt. She searched her mind for words to express her condolences. “I’m so very sorry for your loss. Opal was very kind and very smart. She was always patient with me when I called for information for a story.”

  Heather’s unsteady smile softened the expression on her elegant features. “She had a surprising sense of humor and playfulness beneath her studious demeanor.”

  Shari took a steadying breath. The scent of Italian salad dressing tickled her nose. The mayor must have had another working lunch. “Can I ask what happened?”

  Heather balanced her elbows on her desk. She pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes. Her long, slender fingers trembled. Shari had never seen the iron-willed public servant so shaken, so vulnerable.

  The mayor sat back, lowering her hands to her lap. Her eyes were damp. She pulled another tissue from the box and wiped her nose. “Opal attended the budget meeting for the Board of Ed this morning. The deputies think she fell down the stairs on her way back to the parking lot.”

  Shari noticed an odd note in Heather’s voice. Did the mayor doubt the deputies’ theory? The law enforcement officers had been wrong before. In fact, they’d been wrong a lot. “What makes the deputies think it was an accident? Was it the position of the body?”

  The atmosphere in the room shifted. Grief became something tense and angry. The expression in Heather’s violet eyes hardened with suspicion. “Are you interviewing me for a story?”

  “What?” Shari was startled. “No.”

  “I thought you were genuinely saddened by Opal’s death.”

  “I am—”

  “I thought you really cared about my team as people.”

  “I do—”

  “I should have known you were just after a story.” Heather spat the accusation as though the words were rancid meat. “What’s that old newspaper saying? ‘If it bleeds, it leads.’”

  Shari stiffened on her chair. The attack surprised her. “Excuse me, Mayor Stanley, but your reaction is out of proportion to this situation—”

  “Get out.”

  Shari’s eyes widened. “What’s wrong?”

  “What’s wrong?” The mayor’s tone was almost a growl. “What’s wrong is that while I’m mourning the loss of someone I considered a friend, you’re exploiting that grief for a story.”

  It was understandable that Opal’s death would have traumatized the mayor. She hadn’t even had a chance to tell her staff yet, but Heather’s reaction to Shari’s innocent question seemed extreme. Shari was concerned for the mayor’s emotional state. She considered the other woman’s blazing eyes, flushed cheeks, and thinned lips. She could hear her quickened breaths. How would Sister Lou handle the mayor?

  Shari was a convenient target. Was that the reason the mayor was lashing out at her? “I’m not exploiting your grief. I’m sharing it. Opal’s death has affected me. A lot of other people in the community are going to feel the same way. She was well respected and well liked in Briar Coast.”

  Heather looked away. She took a shaky breath before meeting Shari’s eyes again. “I don’t have time to discuss this further. My staff needs to hear about Opal, and I want them to hear it directly from me.”

  Shari stood. “Opal’s death is a great loss for our community. I’m going to cover this tragedy to honor her memory. I’m sorry if that offends you.”

  If looks could kill, Shari would have been struck down in the mayor’s off
ice. “Do what you think you have to.” Heather’s tone was dismissive. She leaned forward as though trying to see around Shari and raised her voice. “Kerry?”

  Shari looked over her shoulder as Heather’s administrative assistant appeared in the doorway.

  Kerry looked from Shari to the mayor. “Yes, Heather?”

  “Could you get everyone together, please, and ask Penelope to join us?” Heather gestured toward the conference table in her office. “We need to have a staff meeting.”

  Kerry disappeared again.

  Shari turned back to the mayor. “I’m sorry that I upset you. I didn’t mean to. You have my number if you—”

  “I won’t need it.”

  Shari felt as though Heather had bitten her fingers. She walked out of the office in more confusion and with more questions than when she’d entered. What was it about Opal’s accident that prompted such a fierce reaction from the mayor? She seemed to feel guilty about Opal’s death. But why would she?

  * * *

  Heather rose from her seat behind her desk as Kerry led the rest of her executive team into her office Monday afternoon. The short procession ended at her conference table. Grief and dread weighted her body. In contrast, her team’s movements were brisk as they moved to their usual seats around the table. Their body language expressed confidence that they could handle whatever emergency had brought about this unscheduled summons.

  The lump in Heather’s throat scalded her. They had no idea.

  Heather crossed her office to close the door. Her movements were stiff and awkward. She sensed their curious stares as she collected her box of tissues from her desk.

  “Thank you for dropping everything without notice to meet with me.” Heather took her seat at the head of the table.

  Chief of Staff Arneeka Laguda was on Heather’s left. Tian Lu, the communications director, sat beside Arneeka. The petite woman adjusted the jacket of her black pantsuit, which she’d coupled with a white blouse. Yolanda Barnes, senior legal counsel, always took the chair at the foot of the table, directly across from Heather. Her warm brown features were unreadable. Kerry’s chair was on Yolanda’s left and closest to the door. She seemed nervous as her gaze bounced between Heather and the table’s surface. Penelope had taken the seat to Heather’s right. That had been Opal’s usual seat.